Burning the League 04/01/2010

The Burning the League category was an interesting one to choose from. With Michael Leighton (4-0-1, 1.74GAA, .940SVP in last 5 games), Jussi Jokinen (5 points in 4 games, on a line with Matt Cullen and Eric Staal), Alexander Steen (10 points in 7 games, including 5 goals) all on some pretty good streaks, there were some good names to choose from, especially when you consider all the regular Ovechkins, Gaboriks, etc, but when our choice for this week's "Hot" player is on his game, you can't deny him.

Burning the league is Vancouver Canucks captain and top goaltender Roberto Luongo, with 5 wins and only an overtime loss in his last 6 games, not to mention a 1.46 GAA and a .943 SVP, he's the key to any Canucks victory, and he certainly has been in this stretch, giving up only a single goal in 4 of those 6 games.

The San Jose Sharks have also been red hot, riding an 8 game win streak. But that's to be expected of a team full of Olympians.

Other notable teams are the Buffalo Sabres (winners of 4 in a row, with 2 come from behind victories recently), the Montreal Canadiens (6-1-0 on their recent 7 game road trip), as well as Chicago and New Jersey, who are 8-2-0 in their last 10.

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On the other side of the spectrum, Dustin Penner takes the cake in the Cold Turkey category. With only a goal and 2 assists in his last 10 games, when he should have been making a push to gain some last minute attention from Steve Yzerman and his team Canada crew.

His Edmonton Oilers team accompanies him in the category, with a ridiculously bad 1-9-0 recover over their last 10. What makes this record even more hilarious is that they were riding a 5 game win streak in the 5 games before that.

Other teams that almost made the cut were the Columbus Blue Jackets, with a 1-6-3 record in their last 10, the Atlanta Thrashers, who have the same record and gave up a playoff spot in the process, the Leafs witha 3-5-2 record in 14th place, and finally, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have lost their last 5 matches.